


Fandomtine Day 2: So We'll Go No More A-venging

by Lyrstzha



Series: Fandomtine Project: A Litany in the Time of Plague [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Flash Fic, Gen, Pandemics, Quarantine, Team as Family, Zoom - Freeform, fandomtine project, social distancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29308419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrstzha/pseuds/Lyrstzha
Summary: It's not like the Avengers didn't spend plenty of time apart, so when the pandemic separates them it shouldn't be so bad. But that's when they knew they could come back together anytime they wanted.
Series: Fandomtine Project: A Litany in the Time of Plague [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2152647
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Fandomtine Day 2: So We'll Go No More A-venging

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Lord Byron's "So We'll Go No More a-Roving." This is my answer to day 2 of the fandomtine meme: 2) The main characters of one of your fandoms are quarantined separately. How do they handle it?

They hate it. (Even Natasha, who would sooner die than say so outright.) And that's weird, because it's not like they didn't spend plenty of time apart normally. They don't always live in the tower together; at least one of them is often away doing their own thing for a while. But that's when they knew they could come back together anytime they wanted.

“So if we can all isolate for one more week, there's this thing I read about on the interwebs called bubbling I thought we could try,” Steve says earnestly over the group videochat.

“Kinky,” snorts Tony, over the muffled clattering noises of his workshop in the background. “But no, really, I am down for that. I mean, it's minimal risk, even considering that I'm a heart patient and you're ridiculously old.”

“You are all welcome to come shelter in Wakanda,” T'Challa offers. “You wouldn't need quite so many precautions here.”

“Still holding steady, then?” Bruce asks. “No upticks?”

T'Challa nods. “We still have the lowest infection rate in the world,” he says proudly. “And no one insisting on their freedom to endanger others. Or advising the injection of bleach.” He graciously refrains from sounding too pointed or smug about this.

“I need no precautions!” Thor booms loudly, and everyone hastily lowers their speaker levels. “Asgardian lungs are not vulnerable to this.”

“Do not make me tell you the Typhoid Mary story again,” Bruce chides him, shaking a stern finger into his camera. “Even if Asgardians _are_ immune – which I don't know for sure yet – you might still be a transmission vector.”

“And you need to set a good example regardless,” Clint interjects. “Put the damn mask on and stop trying to touch people. Now is not the time to be hugging strangers, no matter how sad you think they look.”

“Spoken like a true dad,” Tony chortles. “All you need now is a dad joke to end it on.”

“What's brown and sticky?” Clint retorts immediately.

“A stick,” Bruce and Tony chorus together, at the same time as Thor bellows “Warg blood!”

“No,” Natasha cuts in before Clint can. “The arrow he's going to put in your eye.”

“Spoilers!” Clint grins. “Stop stepping on my lines.”

“I think we're getting off-track,” Steve says firmly. “Let's focus on how we re-assemble ourselves responsibly. As I was saying, one more week – ”

“Yeah, about that,” Tony cuts him off. “I had to go talk to some people at Stark Industries yesterday. I finished that reusable N95 mask prototype, and I needed to set up production.”

“Did you – ?” Bruce starts.

“Stay six feet away from other people and wear a mask? What am I, new? Of course,” Tony interrupts. “But I thought Cap might wanna reset the count anyway.”

They all sigh, more or less in unison.

“So two more weeks,” Bruce says with a grimace. “Well, that's not so bad. I'm running so many simulations of the main protease in complex with a potential inhibitor the time'll probably fly right by anyway.”

“Right.” Tony nods gamely. “Same here. Lots of work to do. If I don't sleep, two weeks is only a couple of days in relative time.”

“Right,” echoes Clint. “It's not like we _need_ to be in any rush to bubble up or anything.”

“Right,” Steve says too. “No rush. It's fine. Two weeks from yesterday.” But his tone is a thin veneer of cheer stretched over wistfulness, so it sounds transparently unconvincing.

“In the spirit of full disclosure...” Natasha shakes her head. “I may have spent the morning counter-renditioning secret police in Portland.”

They all greet this with a moment of thoughtful silence.

“Worth it,” Clint declares firmly after that moment.

“If that's how they learn,” Tony agrees.

There is a round of general nodding.

“So, two weeks from today,” Steve says, still nodding along.

“What's one day, more or less?” Bruce adds, also still nodding. “Everybody try to avoid good causes for the next two weeks.”

“How hard can it be?” Tony's joviality is brittle and tired and lonely.

They all sigh in unison again.


End file.
